The EASIEST Vegetarian French Onion Soup Recipe!

While traveling back to the east coast last month, I got a craving for a nice hot crock of soup (it’s a chilly coast in October!) … and what’s better than an ooey-gooey mug of french onion soup on a crisp fall day?! YUM! It was AMAZING! In typical Evona fashion, I was immediately hooked and couldn’t stop thinking about that soup! I decided that as soon as I got home I would try to make a pot at home and see it I could reproduce that same yummy flavor. I was a bit nervous at first – for some reason I was under the impression that it would be harder than just putting a BIG-OL-POT of onions on the stove, but much to my surprise – it wasn’t!

HEY VEGGIE LOVERS!

This recipe is vegetarian but if you swap the veggie stock with beef stock, you can appease those stubborn meat eaters too (although trust me, they’ll love it as is!)

So now it’s time to share this SUPER DUPER EASY recipe with you! NOTE: My process takes a while… like 5-8 hours… so it’s a great weekend recipe while you’re at home and cozied up on the couch … or if you happen to work from home like me, you can prep in the morning and have it ready for dinner!

HEALTHY AND CHEESY?!

So why is this recipe healthy?! Well – It’s PRETTY much just water and onions though it does depend on how you prepare it at the very end. If you want to go traditional, you can top with your soup with bread and cheese (which is what I did initially) … but heck I realized it was just SOOOO good on it’s own that lately I’ve just been eating it with just a piece of toast drizzled with artisan olive oil on the side. It’s totally up to you – make a big batch and try it every which way to see what you prefer (you’ll likely have leftovers!)

Bread (your favorite artisan bread – I’m a bread SNOB so I love rosemary/olive oil or a fresh multigrain … but do pick what you love most, after all you’re the one eating) *optional

Directions:

Slice up all of your onions TIP: Wear sunglasses if you’re a crier!

Place a BIG-OL-POT on the stove and cover the bottom with olive oil (OH HOW I LOVE AMAZING OLIVE OIL!)

Heat the oil up bit over medium heat

Place the onions into the BIG-OL-POT over medium/medium to low heat .. you’re creating an onion sauna here … let those bad boys sweat it out!

The goal is to caramelize the onions so they are going to be in there for a WHILE… slow and steady wins the race on this one so keep the heat medium to medium to low until they lose their gorgeous red color and turn into lusciously sweet caramelized onions: approx 5 hours

Add veggie stock or water and bullion cubes … this step is a bit dependant on your preference .. taste as you go but do remember you’ll want to add more liquid than you probably think you need.

Add salt/pepper to taste (depends on your preference)

Here’s a snapshot of my onion progression:

The starting line – Onions, on your mark….. get ready….. get set…. GO!

Approx 2 hours in … Getting less red:

Ready to ROCK THE CROCK!

READY TO EAT!

Preparation:

There are a few different options for eating your soup and how to prepare your crock! I’ll break it down into my favorite 2:

Evona is a passionate foodie, entrepreneur and the founder of Undiscovered Kitchen, a digital farmer’s market for small batch, specialty foods! She loves discovering new foods from around the country and talking to the artisans who make them.